Mens 1sts 25/11/04 – drew Blackburn 2-2
The game started horribly for Melbourne with Blackburn scoring two early runs on errors. Outstanding shortstop Stuart Cox went down in pain after being hit in the knee by a batted ball. After some delay he continued although restricted by the injury. Melbourne fought their way back to level over 8 innings and should have won the game in the last innings when, with runners at first and second, the umpires confirmed their long suspected love affair with the Blackburn team with a brutal foul call on an Ian Semple bunt. Ben Smith threw an outstanding game of 71/3 innings with 9 strikeouts eclipsing Blackburn starting pitcher David White. Will Keys had two hits including a RBI.
28/11/04 – beat Geelong 9-8
Melbourne had to find something special to come back from a five run deficit to beat Geelong 9 to 8. Trailing by five runs, Melbourne finally troubled the scorers in the fifth and then jumped to the lead with a six run sixth. Geelong rallied and tied the score once more in the bottom of the eighth. Melbourne responded immediately to take the lead for good in the top of the ninth. .Some bloke called Brett Caulfield was a one man wrecking crew going with 4 hits for 4 RBI’s.
Mens 2 nds – lost to Geelong 11-5
Not wanting to use the long drive down to Geelong as an excuse, for whatever reason, when game time arrived Melbourne weren't ready to play and errors combined with poor hitting allowed Geelong to accrue a 10-0 lead heading into the 5th. With only one hit through the first 4 innings finally the bats got going with Chris Cassidy capitalising with runners in scoring position to score 2 to help Melbourne to a 5 run dig. But it was all too late with Geelong adding one more in the last before running out easy winners 11-5.
Mens 3 rds 21/11/04 - lost to Malvern 10-4
Melbourne started off very well getting ahead in the first scoring one run and shutting out the Malvern bats. Unfortunately the second innings wasn’t as productive as Malvern picked up three runs on four errors - ouch. Millsy responded with a nice RBI double to keep Melbourne in touch but the Malvern bats were too strong. The game ended up getting out of Melbourne’s reach after Malvern tied down the Melbourne offence to protect their lead.
28/11/04 - lost to Geelong 7-3
The thirds faced the daunting task of playing a confident Geelong team who sat undefeated at the top of the table. Ry Stanes was on song as he kept the Geelong hitters in check for most of the day. The Melbourne defence was red hot with the highlight being the two runners thrown out at home by youngster Jake O’Rielly. Rhett Mitchelhill’s shot into the dreaded right-centre alley opened the Melbourne account and some creative base running by the long lost David Wood made it two. Melbourne held the lead all day and were on the verge of pulling-off a monumental upset when the Geelong bats finally broke through in the last innings.
Mens 4 ths 21/11/04 – beat Malvern 13-6
An excellent start by the Demons to jump out to a 9 - 1 lead after 2 innings. Some inspired hitting by Chao and Rhett Mitchelhill kept the pressure on the Malvern pitching all day. The game got tight at the end of the 4th innings with our lead reduced to 9 - 6 but the team shifted up a gear and piled on a further 4 runs to put the issue beyond doubt. Defensively a near flawless display with a pass ball and a wild throw our only red blemish. Hits: Chao (Triple), Rhett Mitchelhill (Double) 3, Andrew Speed 2, Tim Donald, Roman Babitski, Tom Andronas (Double) 1 each.
28/11/04 - Lost to Geelong 10-9 |
Ladies - beat Doncaster 15-2
Melbourne girls again travelled this week to Doncaster where they played an early game due to a make-up game in the mens being scheduled for the afternoon. With good hitting from everyone and fantastic pitching from Katrina the girls dominated the game. The fielding was generally good with only one down innings in the game.
Masters – beat Newport 12-6
The Masters machine got back into the winners list with a comfortable win after back-to-back losses. Must be Cavs influence as he was back at the helm this week after abandoning us last week for a free feed (Sections dinner). The defense led by "Smiles", "Clappy" and "Meady" kept the Newport batters in check for most of the evening and with our bats finally coming alive fun was had by all. Malcolm cooked up a magnificent feast after the game as we retired to the clubrooms to reminisce about days gone by.
Under 18 - beat Upwey 16-2
This easy win was full of funny incidents. Our start was mediocre, although Ash May took a nice catch at right field, the only problem being that he was substituting for Upwey at the time. Everyone enjoyed James Arthur’s clever steal from second base to home, showing great attention to the game to pick up on a tiny lapse in the field. Shaun Mead was the only player to notice that the fence at left field was much shorter than elsewhere, and promptly hit a home run in that direction. But the highlight was a very unusual one-pitch innings. With two blanks to follow, Robbie Hondo stepped up to pitch, the batter hoicked it to John Cornell at left field who accepted the catch. Two minutes warm up had been followed by 5 seconds of play, and it was our turn to bat again!
Under 14 Red Sox – beat Sunshine 15-14
Under 14 Demons – lost to Geelong 6-3
Mild conditions met the boys this week after the long drive to Geelong. The team welcomed back Emerson and Bryce after their week in Brisbane. Our run of injuries continued with Chris Karabatsos severely dislocating his thumb during the week forcing him out for another few weeks. In a hard fought game our boys went down 6 runs to 3. Highlights this week include Bryce Taylor and Timothy Stephens collecting 2 safe hits each and Campbell Wiggins pitching very well for his 2 innings. Disappointments this week were the poor standard of umpiring when the game was in the balance and some errors in the field, which also didn't help our cause. On a positive note, as the season reaches half way, our boys continue to be competitive given the youth of the team. If they can eliminate some of the errors which have plagued them in the first half of the season, and be more consistent with the bat as well having the injured players return, there is no reason for them not to create some upsets in the run to the finals.
U12 - lost to Springvale 15-14
The U12's had a big surprise this week as Springvale were fired up and ready to bat. It was the first dig, one run in with 2 out, none on base and Springvale went on to bat in 6 runs, most of these scored on errors in fielding and overthrows. This stunned the young Demons who for the last 6 games have been the ones to get the jump on the opposition. To Melbourne's credit and with some good pitching from Jai and Brandon, the young Demons clawed their way back into contention. Slowly and steadily they wore down the Springvale side with the match (for the 3rd time this season) going down to the last pitch of the day to decide the result. The young Demons fought hard at bat with a great hit from Ravi Vithal scoring the first "triple" for the season. Great hits also came from Edward Pike 2 "doubles", Jai Batten 2 "singles", Chris Vapp "double" also Brandon Hough and Patrick Politis with singles. |
